If last night’s game against Philipsburg-Osceola at soggy Memorial Field in Philipsburg had been a beauty contest, the Tyrone Golden Eagles would have been eliminated well before the evening gown portion of the show.
And the swimsuit competition could have gotten really ugly.
Fortunately for the Eagles, there are no bonus points awarded for good looks and grace in high school football, so their 14-7 win in a steady downpour over the 1-6 Mounties was a keeper.
It improved Tyrone to 4-3 on the season and 4-1 in the Big 8 Conference and it restored some of the confidence that was lost last week when Pius X rallied from 14 points back to hand the Eagles a 25-21 loss.
The win also showed that Tyrone can sustain a winning running game when the situation calls for it. The Eagles rushed for 247 yards, 171 of which came in the second half when they went exclusively to the ground game.
Sophomore Brice Mertiff showed he’s got the makings of a mudder, rushing for a career-high 177 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries. He gained 124 in the second half alone, and scored the game-winning touchdown three minutes into the third quarter.
“We anticipated bringing in (Brinton Mingle) at fullback and moving Ben Gummo exclusively to tailback if Brice couldn’t get his footing,” said Tyrone coach John Franco. “Some backs are good in the mud. He may be one of them.”
His performance, coupled with a strong defensive effort that limited P-O to 186 yards in total offense, kept the Eagles in position to earn a berth in the District 5-6 AA playoffs, and gave Tyrone four wins in its last five games.
“Before tonight, we had two games where we ran the ball pretty well,” said Franco. “Tonight, we needed to be able to run the ball and we did, so I was pleased with that.”
But one touchdown victories are never easy, and this one was no different. Tyrone was forced to rally from a 7-0 deficit in the first quarter, and was dealt another potentially devastating injury when senior captain and center Brian McManigal sustained a leg injury with just minutes left in the game.
It was believed McManigal’s injury was an ankle sprain, but that won’t be confirmed until next week. McManigal joins classmates Dan Grazier (broken leg) and Josh Good (concussion) on a list of key players whose status for at least the remainder of the regular season is uncertain.
“I guess when it rains it pours,” said Franco wryly while walking off the field under a heavy downpour.
The Mounties (1-4 Big 8) got on the board quickly, needing just two plays after receiving the opening kick to punch in the game’s first touchdown. Tyler Chintella rambled for 12 yards on first down from the P-30, and then Adam White broke free on an inside counter and outraced the Tyrone defense to the endzone on a 58-yard run. Lou LaFuria’s kick made it 7-0 with just 1:46 gone in the first quarter.
The Eagles had trouble finding any offensive consistency in the first quarter, punting once, and turning the ball over another time on a Tyler Mertiff fumble.
“They had us down at that point,” said Franco. “If they put one in there, it gets very tough for us.”
But Tyrone tied the score on its first series of the second quarter, a 10-play, 77-yard drive that consumed 5:03. Brice Mertiff ran four times for 26 yards and Tyler Mertiff hooked up with Aaron Jeffries on a 39-yard pass to the P-15. Four plays later, Brice Mertiff scooted in from the two and Ben Gummo kicked the game-tying extra point.
Tyrone went ahead on its first drive of the third quarter, going 61-yards in six plays. Brice Mertiff started the series with a 31-yard run to the P-35 and ended it when he sprinted 21 yards down the sideline for the go-ahead score. Gummo’s kick made it 14-7.
“They took it to us early in the second quarter,” said P-O coach Jeff Vroman. “We had a lull, which surprised me because I thought we were ready to start the second half.”
The Mounties had two opportunities to tie the game, twice driving as far as the T-21 in the fourth quarter. On the first, P-O drove to the Tyrone 21 thanks to a 13-yard run by Chintella and an 11-yard reception by Zach Johns. But after the Mounties were moved back to the 26 on an illegal procedure penalty, sophomore quarterback Jeff Winters was intercepted by Tommy Crowl at the 15.
Later, P-O drove to the T-20, but on third-and-7, Johns was hauled down for no gain on a sweep by Crowl, and on fourth down Johns threw behind White in the flat, turning the ball back over to the Eagles.
“A lot of good things happened, and we’re improving, but we could have won this game,” said Vroman. “We expected to win.”
Tyrone used nine consecutive rushing plays to kill the clock. The biggest was a five-yard run by Tyler Mertiff on third-and-five where Mertiff withstood the initial impact of a cruching hit by White and powered ahead for three more yards. He would later scamper for 15 down to the P-25.
“Tyler Mertiff may have had his best game for us as a leader,” said Franco. “That run at the end typified the kind of game he had.”
GRID TIDBITS: White finished with 127 yards on 15 carries, his second consecutive 100-yard performance … Jeffries broke the 600-yard receiving mark for the season with two receptions for 47 yards … the Eagles have turned the ball over nine times in their last two games … Tyrone travels to Indian Valley next Friday. Valley fell to Huntingdon 28-21 last night in overtime – the Warriors’ first loss of the season.
TYRONE 14, PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA 7
SCORE BY QUARTERS
TYRONE 0 7 7 0 – 14
PHILIPSBURG 7 0 0 0 – 0
SCORING SUMMARY
1st Quarter
P- White 58 run (LaFuria kick) 10:14
2nd Quarter
T- B. Mertiff 2 run (Gummo kick) 5:53
3rd Quarter
T- B. Mertiff 21 run (Gummo kick) 9:05
TEAM STATISTICS
T PO
First Downs 21 6
Yards Rush 247 175
Pass Attempts 14 8
Pass Comp. 6 1
Yards Pass 78 11
Total Offense 323 186
Fum./Lost 6/2 0/0
Intercepted By 1 0
Pen./Yards 4-20 3-15
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Tyrone: B. Mertiff 18-177, Gummo 12-32, T. Mertiff 11-38
Philipsburg-Osceola: Chintella 6-40, White 15-127, Kugac, Mertiff 1-5, Winters 2- (-1), Johns 3-4
Passing
Tyrone: Mertiff 6-14-78-0-0
Philipsburg-Osceola: Winters1-8-11-1-0
Receiving
Tyrone: Jeffries 2-47; Gummo 1-6; Clark 1-15; Crowl 2-11
Philipsburg-Osceola: Johns 1-11
